Understanding
by purefoysgirl
Summary: Yazoo finally discovers what his brother Loz has been talking about, and deals with Kadaj's response. Eventual KadajxYazoo, rated for coming chapters. COMPLETE: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

They'd come so far, traveled so long to find this place the baby insisted was where Mother was.

Yazoo lounged on the seat of his motorcycle, giving the dirty, squalid town nothing more than a low, "Hmph," of disgust.

Kadaj, his eyes glowing with triumph, didn't even deign to look at him.

"We'll find her here, I know it!" he fiercely said, leaning forward eagerly. It was the most animated the baby had been in weeks, and even Yazoo—who made an effort to shut out the other children of Sephiroth—could sense the presence of the Mother's cells dancing through his nerves.

"Can we stay awhile, _koishii_?" Loz questioned, his roving green eyes seeing some redeeming quality to the town that Yazoo simply could not. "Your big brother wants someone to play with…"

Yazoo gave him a sharp look, frowning. Loz had recently experienced something that Kadaj was as yet unaware of—and Mother help them when the little tyrant found out that Loz was sharing his affection. Sex was not a concept any of them had much of a handle on, but Loz had gone and gotten himself into it up to his eyeballs, and luckily for him Kadaj had been too distracted by the hunt to notice the alarming rush of sensation his older brother had been dumping into their connection. Yazoo had tuned it out, vaguely disturbed by his brother's discovery and sensing instinctively that to expose Kadaj to it would be catastrophic. Still, it made him more than a little curious.

"We can stay until Mother wants us to go," Kadaj announced, missing the byplay between his older brothers. "I want to see if those fucking Turks are lurking around—we find them and we have a way to get to Shinra."

"And Mother?" Loz questioned, hope lighting his blank, beautiful features.

Kadaj smiled, the coldness of it out of place on his delicate, innocent face.

"Sh, Loz." Yazoo sighed, ready to call it a day.

"I'm going to take a look around," the baby announced, kicking his bike forward. "Find us a place to stay, Yazoo. Loz, find me some information."

They watched him streak away to the town, dust billowing up in his wake.

"Little tyrant," Loz rumbled, watching his slender brother's form meld into the distance with no little affection. His jade eyes cut to his other brother and he said, "Hey, Yazoo—do you think I should tell him?"

Yazoo smirked and shook his head, letting his motorcycle idle forward.

"Kadaj would not take it well," he murmured. "You'd be defecting."

"Argh, what's the big deal?" Loz grumbled, matching his speed as they made their way to the town. "They're amusing little creatures, girls are."

"Keep him happy, Loz," Yazoo reminded. "He couldn't bear it if we didn't love him…"

Loz looked shocked beyond all measure, and snuffled a little, brought to tears by the idea that Yazoo could think such things of him.

"Girls are one thing," he said, his voice thick with tears. "But _koishii_—he's the baby! How could we _ever_ not love him?"

Yazoo sighed, watching the dark, ugly town draw closer. It would be night soon, and Kadaj was always wilder when the sun went down. He'd best find a place to camp, and soon.

Loz peeled off to do his own business, leaving Yazoo to scour the surrounding area. He found a place near an unhealthy-looking spring that was sheltered by large blasts of rock. He dumped their few supplies under a convenient overhang and decided to go search for his brothers in town.

He parked his bike in a likely place and prowled the streets, feeling restless. He could sense Kadaj out somewhere unsafe for a boy so young, but safe enough for one such as Kadaj, he supposed. Loz was hunting information but would probably end up drinking at the bars he inquired in, already running down likely prey to spend his libido on. Yazoo, the coldest of them, the most removed from emotion, did not understand his brother's interest in the fairer sex, having no experience with it.

The streets were dirty and lively, people everywhere shouting and singing and laughing. It amused Yazoo to see how very much like busy ants they were, these animals. There were eyes that followed him, drinking in his every move—but that had happened more and more on their journey, especially to Kadaj. It seemed the older they got the more these people wanted to stare at them, so Yazoo made sure that none of them went anywhere unarmed. He couldn't quite fathom the nature of their interest, only that it made him as nervous as the excessive, unsettling attention their Handlers had paid to Kadaj at times—when hands lingered too long in places they shouldn't until he or Loz made them stop. Made them stop forever…

"Are you new in town?"

Yazoo glanced over his shoulder to see someone addressing him, her green eyes bright and wide with innocence. She was standing at a stall selling beer that obviously came from the bar behind her.

"Why do you ask?" Yazoo demanded, suspicious. He swung around to face her, left hand absently falling to rest on the handle of the Velvet Nightmare. He searched her face but she only blushed, giggling in a rather annoying way.

"I just wanted to stop you for a moment," she said, pleased with her own daring. "You seem interesting."

"Hmph," Yazoo allowed, wondering where Kadaj was. "You haven't by any chance seen a young boy come through here? He's my brother, we look quite alike but his hair isn't as long."

She shook her head, fascinated with him. It was quickly becoming annoying. Yazoo scowled at her but she didn't notice, only dimpled up at him.

"You're certainly a handsome one," she said, laughing lightly. She reached out and touched his hair, gently running the strands through her fingers. She blushed when he stiffened, drawing her hand back. "I just wanted to see if it was as soft as it looked."

Her flushed cheeks and youth made him relax, reminding him of his youngest brother at his most docile.

"Is it?" he asked, sweeping his hair over one shoulder and feeling it experimentally. He hadn't Sephiroth's vanity—that was the baby—but he did take care of himself, though he didn't really pay much attention to his hair so long as it was clean.

"Yes," she said, laughing breathlessly. She ducked her head shyly arms crossing over her belly in a way that pushed her breasts up and out, straining against the light fabric of her blouse. "Are you…are you a priest?"

He cocked his head, not understanding.

She cleared her throat and gestured at his clothing, saying, "It's so severe for one so young…you look like a priest. I…I don't want to offend you with an offer."

"I suppose you could say I'm in service to a God," Yazoo answered, not sure that he understood her correctly. He glanced down at the leather outfit that the Cenobites had fashioned for him. All three brothers wore clothing that mostly covered them from chin to toes—for all of the years spent in the labs at the mercy of the Handlers, kept naked to prevent any hiding of weapons, Yazoo and his brothers had developed a distinct dislike of being exposed. Loz might show off his muscles, and Kadaj his grace, but they kept themselves armored behind the hand-tooled leather. "I like my clothing."

"So do I," she hastily said, nodding. "It suits you…so beautiful…"

He liked the way she trembled and the way she smelled—something sweet and spicy, so different from the sterile, antiseptic stench of the labs.

"Beautiful," he murmured, reflecting on the word. He wasn't too familiar with things that were _beautiful_—to him very little on this planet _was_. A tree blasted by lightening, the sky clouded over with the fury of a storm, his brothers. "What offer?"

She blushed deeper but her eyes were sly when she looked at him from beneath her lush lashes.

"Well…" she slowly said, smiling. "It isn't every day a woman meets a man as beautiful as you…"

He said nothing, growing rather bored with her words that made no sense to him.

"Would you come to my room? It's just upstairs," she whispered, reaching out to claim his hand.

He hesitated but she pressed his hand to the softness of her chest and that paused him, sudden curiosity chasing away his automatic habit of avoiding things that may change him.

She gazed at him, questions and a sudden softening in her eyes.

"Don't tell me you've never…"

Her brows rose and he cocked his head, rather exasperated to understand these creatures so very little.

The woman smiled gently and tugged him after her when she moved away, saying, "I'll show you."


	2. Chapter 2!

He didn't concern himself too much with his safety, not feeling as if the slight woman before him was a threat. Besides, after having lived through what he and his brothers had, Yazoo was extremely confident in his ability to survive. Even when _he_ wasn't watching, the _other_ was, that sliver of Sephiroth which had lodged in him one night when the Mother's anguished screaming had sent the three of them into fits.

"Here," the woman whispered, tugging him up a flight of dark stairs onto an equally dim landing and through a narrow but sturdy door. There was little in the room except for a bed and a vanity.

She closed the door behind him and shyly stood waiting.

Yazoo felt himself getting bored again. This was altogether too much work for something he was only mildly curious about. He made a movement for the door but she stopped him with a small, pained cry, clinging to his arm.

"Don't go!" she said, a note of desperation in her high voice. "Please, I…I'll do anything you want!"

Yazoo's eyebrows rose as he scornfully wondered what possible use any of these weak, soft creatures could be.

"Please," she whispered, and pressed herself against him in a way that was entirely distracting. "Don't go."

Her hand settled on his hip—perilously close to the Velvet Nightmare so that Yazoo shoved it higher out of reflex. Her other hand moved with swift intent beneath the heavy curtain of his hair to cup his angled cheek. Her touch was cool and not unpleasant, nor was her mouth unpleasant when she pressed it wetly to his own. This he knew—kisses were given by the Handlers at times, usually by the female ones who had looked at them with pitying, cold eyes. Kisses on sweaty little foreheads, kisses on bloodied cheeks, kisses given constantly to the baby when his sharp little mind grasped that it was a form of the love he craved so desperately.

But this kiss was different. Her mouth worshipped his, her tongue dancing between his lips until he relaxed against her, hands falling naturally to the curve of her hips.

Deep inside him the _other_ stirred and memories that were not his own began unfurling in his mind. _Lovers, and the word was known in all its possible meanings—men, women, even the child Cloud. Seduction so easy, a means to an end with pleasure the only cost. Faces flickered through his memory—beautiful women, equally beautiful men, and the young boy Cloud whose innocent adoration had been his undoing. He remembered every touch, every kiss, every blissful echo of sensation. He _remembered_ now—in his soul he was no more a virgin than Sephiroth_…

He understood it now, what was pulling Loz time and again into the arms of any woman who would have him. Loz had been infested with the sensitive, playful shards of Sephiroth's soul so his memories must be pleasant and enjoyable ones. Yazoo had been struck with Sephiroth's introspective side, reserved and cold until the armor was pierced, and then it was the older man's lazy sensuality that Yazoo embodied.

The woman moaned a little and pulled back, confused.

"I thought you hadn't…" she trailed off, confused by the sudden shift in him.

Yazoo could see himself reflected in her eyes, his own glowing green, his face so calm and delicately sculpted. He understood this power now, understood how Sephiroth had used it so easily—beauty had its rewards, after all. And once he put his mind to making them want him, he could have _anyone_ promising they would do anything if only he would stay awhile…

Yazoo kissed her, wrapping his hand around the column of her throat to draw her close. She was utterly complaisant, growing hot in his embrace, her little hands clutching at him fiercely. He tugged at her blouse, letting her breasts swell over the lip of the fabric, sensitive fingers teasing over her tight little nipples. Her little moans pleased him and he lifted her, moving to dump her onto the bed.

She landed in a stunned jumble of skirts, but her shocked look gave way to giggles when she saw Yazoo coming towards her, unbuckling his shoulder guards on his way.

"What's funny?" he asked, letting them drop before unfastening the Velvet Nightmare's holster, laying it within easy reach.

"Nothing!" she gasped, cheeks flushed with joy. "I just…you're so _beautiful_!"

He shed his leather coat, unzipping the priestly garment and laying it reverently aside. Her cool little hands smoothed over his belly when he neared her, her eyes wide and eager to please. He sighed a little when she teased her palm over his groin, tracing the outline of his hard sex through the leather.

"Oh…" she breathed, and her look was hungry, _ravenous_.

Yazoo tugged her hair a little and she started, unlacing his pants with a speed born of desperation. She shoved them down only far enough to free him and immediately wrapped him in the warm, wet embrace of her mouth.

He stifled a little moan, eyes sweeping closed as she sucked him. It felt amazingly good, so good that he trembled and his hands fisted in her hair, urging her to let him deeper, to suck harder. Behind his eyes he got a sudden flash of memory—_huge blue eyes in a china-doll's face so smooth and perfect it could only belong to an angel. And a perfect pair of rosebud lips parting, wet little tongue snaking out in uncertainty that was as charming as it was arousing. 'Like this?' that soft, husky voice asked, so recently through the cracking of childhood. The hiss of breath as that soft mouth hesitantly enveloped him, and Sephiroth's rumbling voice gently encouraging, 'Yes, like this, Cloud…'_

Yazoo's body clenched, startled by the memory that played over his nerve endings, tightening his balls even as the girl gently teased them in her palm. He shuddered, holding her head tightly to him so that she gagged reflexively, struggling to breathe but maintaining a delicious, steady suction.

He moaned, releasing her head and pulling suddenly from her mouth, shivering to see the silvery trail of saliva and precum trail from her lips down her chin. She looked startled, obviously expecting him to cum in her mouth. She wiped her chin absently, then quickly shed her clothing.

Steadying himself, Yazoo pulled off his boots and wriggled out of his pants, dropping them indifferently on the floor. She reached around from his back and palmed him, her little hand pumping expertly while the other raked nails down his chest, catching his nipple and making him hiss in pain. And that, too, was something Sephiroth's memories provided him—such a thin line between pleasure and pain, and their dark origin had perfected the art of sadism, though he accepted his own pain as payment.

Yazoo turned and pinned her to the bed, feeling her delighted giggles echo up through his body. He kissed her hard, bloodying her lips on her teeth, swiftly moving his mouth down to tease her nipples. Her back arched hard, her wrists trapped in his hand, the slow writhing of her body offering more of her flesh to him. He nipped and bit, tongue teasing, nibbling the sensitive skin between her breasts and sucking a ring of dark bruises down her sweaty neck. She tasted of salt and spices, of musky sex.

Yazoo released her hands and gripped her hips, sliding his tongue down over her clit and up inside her in one swift, sure movement. She yelped and gripped his hair, thighs tightening around his head. He flicked his tongue back up and sucked her into his mouth, sharp teeth softly teasing, two slender fingers sliding up inside her tight body.

"Oh…oh…" she gasped, gripping the pillow hard, body undulating in rhythm to his slowly thrusting fingers and his swiftly moving tongue. He bit her and she moaned. He bit her harder and she grew even more liquid around him. Pulling on her flesh with his teeth, he twisted his fingers up inside her and she came with a gasping scream, body snapping taut in an orgasm that stretched to encompass the continued assault of Yazoo's teeth and fingers working her so expertly.

He gave her one final suck and sat back on his knees between her legs, pleased to see her slumped and sweating, panting, utterly undone. Her green eyes were drawn from his face to his cock and back again, both fascinating her.

"Get on your knees," Yazoo told her. He didn't feel like kissing her anymore, and she'd had her fun. She obediently got onto her knees and he absently shoved her face down into her pillow, bowing her back in a pretty arch and lifting her ass. He guided himself into her, feeling the gentle resistance that turned into an excruciatingly piercing pleasure as her tight body gripped him. Hissing softly with the exquisite sensation assaulting him, he shoved into her up to his balls, gripped her hips tightly, and proceeded to drive her silly head through the headboard in his enthusiastic search for release. He rode her harder and harder, grunting and sweating, ignoring her pitiful cries. This was _power_, he knew it because even through her muffled objections her body began to quake, rhythmically squeezing him as she, too, began to climax. Snarling a little when her hips dropped, Yazoo lifted her hips up until her knees didn't even touch the bed anymore, slamming into her so hard it hurt. But that was a good pain, too, and Yazoo felt her cum a split second before the world exploded into white-hot pleasure around him, drowning him in sensation that drew moan after moan from him. He slumped over her back, gasping and finally knowing in truth what it meant to lose one's innocence.


	3. Chapter 3

Yazoo swiped his bent wrist across his forehead, not used to sweating. The girl lay against his side, her eyes tranquil and her skin glowing with a rosy blush. Her plump little hand was curled over his forearm, gently tugging him to lie back down.

He glanced down at her and she caught her breath, leaning up on one elbow to cup his angled cheek, whispering for the thousandth time, "You're so beautiful!"

He let her kiss him, feeling a sluggish response—he'd already spent hours in her bed, spending himself utterly in her accommodating body. This…_sex_ was pleasurable and shockingly pleasant, something Yazoo knew would be easy to lose oneself in.

The sluggish response flared to full strength when she pressed against him, tongue twining into his mouth.

Yazoo felt the fine hairs on his nape lift a split second before he sensed a furious bundle of energy hurtling towards him.

The door burst open, busted off of its hinges and hanging brokenly to one side.

The girl shrieked and scrambled from her bed, dragging the sheets with her and hiding in the corner.

Yazoo caught a look at his little brother—head down, eyes up, mouth open in a snarl and arms flung wide—and had a heartbeat to regret not having closed the connection between them through his little discovery before he was punched in the face and flung back against the wall.

He shook his head, seeing stars, and moved out of the bed as the baby rounded on the girl.

"You!" he hissed, stalking her like a cat, his little fingers clenching into fists. "_You_!"

Blue flame sprang up on his taut, slender arms, building with the baby's temper.

"Kadaj," Yazoo said, gripping the boy's arm only to be furiously shaken off.

"_I'll_ kill_ you_!"

"_Kadaj_!" he sharply said, and moved between the baby and his terrified lover.

"Get out of the way!" Kadaj snarled.

Yazoo shook his head, refusing to move.

The baby screamed in frustration and slapped him hard, bloodying his nose and lips.

Yazoo gazed tranquilly down into the baby's eyes and softly said, "No."

The baby made his unique little "tsk," teeth clenched, body singing with tension, one visible eye moiling with fury and pain.

"_Kill her_!" he ground out, the blue flames dying down.

"I will _not_," Yazoo calmly answered.

The baby screamed again, spitting and hissing like a cat, drumming his hard fists on Yazoo's chest. He was flushed and furious, his confusion fueling his anger. He suddenly flung himself on his older brother, slim arms twining around the taller man's neck and slender body arching up in innocent, instinctive offering. His soft little mouth crushed up against Yazoo's in a wet, desperate kiss, tongue curling to lap the blood from his mouth.

Patiently, Yazoo cupped the delicate shell of his skull, gently kissing Kadaj back, his free hand stroking down the smaller boy's side. Kadaj pressed more insistently against him before breaking their kiss.

"Don't leave me alone," he whispered, pleading, stark appeal on his fine features.

"I would never," Yazoo murmured, rubbing the baby's fragile skull so that his feline eyes closed briefly, fluttering with sudden lethargy. Those vivid jade eyes popped back open, now wide, and he begged, "Please kill her!"

Again, Yazoo shook his head, refusing to bend to his little tyrant.

The baby screamed once more in rage, tearing away, trembling with fury.

"What has she _done_ to you?" he demanded, panting through his bared teeth, hands fisted at his sides.

Loz found them, then, agitated by the pulsing discord in their connection. His frosty jade eyes took in the room with one knowing sweep and, understanding at once, he moved up behind the baby, lowly saying, "Kadaj, come away…"

The boy half turned, the movement tight with tension, and pinned his older brother with blazing eyes.

"You as well?" he asked, incredulous, causing Loz to blush and shift from foot to foot. He threw back his head and howled in fury. Pointing a finger that swept from brother to brother he snarled, "You're keeping _secrets_! Well, _I_ have secrets, too! Mother speaks to _me_! _Me_! Not to _you_!"

"Kadaj," Loz said, trying to placate the enraged child, but only managing to draw the boy's attention.

The baby flung himself at Loz, shoving his finger into the broad man's chest and hissing, "You _can't_ know things that I don't know!"

Yazoo sighed, a little annoyed by the continuous weeping from behind him.

"You can't _leave_ me!" Kadaj shouted, desperation tingeing his voice with hysteria.

Loz looked pained and softly rumbled, "You're our brother, _koishii_—we'll never leave you."

"You can't know things that I don't know!" the baby wailed, beside himself with the unfairness of it. In a fit of temper he punched Loz in the chest hard enough to stagger the large man.

"Enough," Yazoo calmly said, exchanging a look with the repentant Loz, who grabbed the baby in a bear hug from behind, secure only in the hope that Kadaj would not truly harm him.

The baby's eyes were huge with confusion and betrayal, furious that the only people in the world he trusted were keeping secrets from him, living lives he had no idea existed. Hissing and spitting like a cat, he struggled against his older brother, but the fight had been drained from him by his temper. Such tantrums were frequent from their excitable, prickly brother, but short lived.

"Come on, _koishii_," Loz said, dragging the baby towards the broken door. "Lets let Yazoo have his fun."

This earned another outraged shriek from the baby, who spitefully snarled, "I hope she _dies_, brother! Dies screaming and writhing in her own _guts_!"

Yazoo flinched, not certain that the baby wouldn't return later and carve the girl to pieces.

The snarls and venomous insults faded, leaving Yazoo alone with the snuffling, weeping girl.

"He's just a baby," he murmured, more to himself than to her. "He doesn't understand…"

He looked down at her, huddled and horrified on the floor, her face red and stained with tears.

"He may harm you," Yazoo softly said, moving fluidly to dress. "Be careful of him."

He dressed in silence, lacing and buckling everything into place.

"Is he…is he mad?" she finally asked, stirring a little.

Yazoo shrugged, strapping Velvet Nightmare to his hip. "He's my brother," he told her, the answer to trump all questions. He glanced at her, wondering if he would remember her face in the days to come—Sephiroth's sizeable libido stirring in his blood. Without another word, he moved gracefully out of the heated room and off into the night.


	4. Chapter 4

The campsite was quiet when he returned. Both bikes were parked—so, Loz had managed to wrangle the unmanageable baby back. Yazoo was relieved.

He heard the slight, snuffling snore of Loz as he wept in his sleep, doubtlessly dreaming of Mother, or maybe of Kadaj's ire. He spied the slender, rigid form of the baby standing furthest from the camp, his back to his brothers as he stared up at the moon.

Yazoo silently moved behind him, feeling the familiar affection unique to the baby flushing his chest with warmth.

"You stink," the baby said, sullen, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. He gave a delicate sniff and shot Yazoo a dark look over one slim shoulder. "You stink like that _creature_."

Yazoo did, indeed, detect a faint remnant of her perfume, spicy and sweet.

"It's a pleasant scent," he softly said, keeping his voice soothing. "And she was a pleasant distraction."

"We don't _need_ distractions!" the baby snapped, tensing. "We only need each other!"

"Kadaj," Yazoo said, gentle, putting his arm loosely around the boy's slim waist and pressing his temple to the baby's.

"Don't _change_," the baby whispered, his voice strained. He covered Yazoo's hand with his own, fingers holding tight. His little chin dropped and he took a shaky breath.

"It can't be stopped," Yazoo told him, drawing the baby into his full embrace.

"I don't _want_ it!" Kadaj cried, anguished. "I don't want you both to leave me!"

"We wouldn't," Yazoo assured him.

Kadaj trembled a little, his delicate features suffused with melancholy. "What is it?" he asked, doubt drawing his brows together. "I don't understand…"

Yazoo pondered him in the faint light. In these moments when he was tranquil and soft, Kadaj's beauty bordered on frightening. Without even realizing exactly what they'd been doing, the trio had been seducing others all along—Kadaj the most of all. The thought of him intentionally controlling that power was daunting to his elder brother. Who would have the strength to deny Kadaj anything?

"Little tyrant," Yazoo affectionately said, cupping the baby's soft cheek. Kadaj's eyes swept closed and he leaned into his hand, soothed by his brother's nearness.

They'd had so very little of their own all of their lives—really just one another. He understood the baby's possessiveness, recognized it from his own memories of the man they were made from. A possessiveness that jealously and madly guarded whatever it perceived as its own. How often had a trifle been tossed into their cell only to be pounced on by the baby, ready to fight to the death for it, hissing, '_Mine_!' in his high baby's voice?

"You have his memories, too," Yazoo reminded. "This was a large part of what he was."

Sephiroth the seducer, who used his glorious body when arguments and fighting failed.

Kadaj looked at him with sad, lost eyes.

"I'm afraid," he whispered, a tremor running through his slender form. "I don't want to lose myself."

"You're Kadaj," Yazoo told him, pressing his forehead to the baby's, their jade eyes meeting. "You'll always be you. But sometimes it is nice to share yourself with someone, as Loz and I have done."

Baby's features twisted into a pretty grimace and he said with haughty authority, "Then you share with _me_—you're _my_ brothers, not _theirs_! You belong to _me_, and I don't _share_!"

Yazoo laughed a little, absently licking off the blood when Kadaj sourly bit his lip. The baby despised being laughed at.

"How well we know that, _koishii_," Yazoo said, still chuckling.

"You won't leave me?" Kadaj questioned, always so uncertain of them. That was Mother's doing, she who never loved Kadaj because he was _Kadaj_, making the baby doubtful of how loveable he was, how worthy he was to live, how important he was to others. He leaned up and kissed Yazoo again, sucking the blood from the nipped flesh, clinging desperately to his safety.

'He doesn't understand,' Yazoo reminded himself, letting the baby kiss him until he was content, surprised at the sudden flare that came from the fire his lover had stoked in him. So…women, men, even brothers…

"Tsk," baby made his frustrated sound. "Don't leave me!" He tucked his face into the crook of Yazoo's neck, hiding beneath the heavy hair as he had as a little child.

"There will always be others, Kadaj," Yazoo said, holding him securely. "But you will _always_ be first—we will never leave you."

"But you'll _love_ them," Kadaj accused, and sobbed softly. All they had in the world was each other and though love was a new concept to the trio, they had immediately understood it as the feeling they had for each other. Leave it to the baby—who craved love and attention like others craved food—to make that leap in logic, to equate flesh with emotion.

"Nonsense," Yazoo crooned, surprised by the very thought of it. "I love you and Loz alone, _koishii_. It will always be so."

"But you love _me_ more," the baby stubbornly insisted, wanting to prove his point to himself.

Yazoo smiled, squeezing the baby close.

"Of course," he said. "Can you sleep now?"

The baby made a soft sound and allowed Yazoo to lead him over to Loz's sleeping form. They lay down together, Loz rolling over to cuddle to the baby's back. Yazoo lay on his side, arm over the both of them, the baby snuggled to his chest and belly.

"It's alright now, little _koishii_," Loz said, his voice heavy with sleep.

Kadaj burrowed his nose into Yazoo's chest and sighed. Wrapped in the warmth and closeness of his brothers, he drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Yazoo idly stroked the wild sweep of Loz's hair, shushing him under his breath while the larger man snuffled. He swiped his wet eyes with his forearm as a child would and looked up at Yazoo from the ground where he sat, asking, "But why won't he let us in?"

That very question worried Yazoo immensely. After Kadaj had thrown his fit in the room of Yazoo's lover, he'd clamped down hard on the connection he shared with his brothers. The very next morning Yazoo and Loz had woken without the baby curled up between them, and had seen neither hide nor hair of him in the week since.

"Should we go to her room? Do you think he killed her?" Loz asked yet again, beside himself that their little _koishii_ was alone and unprotected in the world, despite that Kadaj was as dangerous as sweating dynamite and twice as volatile. Loz saw him only as the baby who needed them to protect him, as they had at the Labs until Kadaj's strange powers surfaced.

"I don't know, Loz," Yazoo said, at a loss. He soothed himself by comforting his larger brother, occupying his mind with thoughts of his little tyrant. He couldn't sense even the faintest trace of Kadaj, which meant the baby was utterly focused on hiding from them. Last night was the last brush he'd had with his connection to Kadaj, a ripple of energy that leaked out—whatever the baby was up to, it had him so excitable he was liable to really hurt someone. Yazoo was pretty sure he knew what Kadaj had gone in search of—and it certainly was _not_ Mother.

"Argh, _Kadaj_!" Loz moaned, miserable, head hanging and broad shoulders slumped. "Come back to us, _koishii_!"

"Come in, Loz—people are starting to stare," Yazoo murmured, urging his bigger brother to his feet. They'd moved into the inn, needing a centralized location to search for the baby. They had no worries that Kadaj would lose them—all he needed to do was follow their link back. It was finding _Kadaj_ that was the problem…

Loz lumbered to his feet, leaning wretchedly on Yazoo's shoulder and aimlessly following him inside to their room. Another few hours of fruitless searching had wrung the man out emotionally, and the loss of Kadaj was a blow Yazoo wasn't sure Loz could take. What the little tyrant never seemed to understand was that _he_ was as essential to them as they were to him. But then Kadaj, who knew too well his own beauty, who was so confident in the graceful power of his body, had never had the slightest amount of self-worth, thanks to Mother. He needed others obsessively, and lived in the silent, panicked fear that they did _not_, in fact, need him—that they only wanted Sephiroth, and not _Kadaj_.

Yazoo got his weeping brother undressed and into his bed, holding him until he slept fitfully, clinging tightly to Yazoo's waist and occasionally whispering, "Kadaj."

Substituting a pillow for himself, Yazoo left Loz sleeping and slowly undressed himself, his thoughts on his little brother out there alone in this dark, large place. With a sigh of weary anxiety, he slipped into his own bed and let sleep eventually claim him.


	6. Chapter 6!

It was the baby's voice that woke him, low and sultry and purring in his ear, "Wake up, Yazoo, wake up…"

Startled to have been caught sleeping, though it _was_ the baby and he _had_ perfected the art of pouncing on people unawares, Yazoo was half out of the bed with a racing heart before he checked his automatic reach for the Velvet Nightmare.

"Sh!" the baby scolded, bent over before him with his finger to his lips, jade eyes glowing. "Loz is dreaming…"

Yazoo could barely see Kadaj in the dark, even with his enhanced night vision—just a smudge of pearlescent skin and gleaming eyes, the spill of silver hair as the boy straightened. But he could _smell_ Kadaj, the familiar and comforting scent that was uniquely the baby's…but that scent was drowned by metallic blood. So much blood that Kadaj had to be dripping with it.

"Now I know," the boy said, and plucked up a lock of Yazoo's hair to rub between his slender fingers.

"Kadaj," Yazoo whispered, senses singing danger now. The baby was falling rapidly into predatory fascination—_killing_ fascination. And Yazoo did not want to be on the receiving end of it because, frankly, the little tyrant was becoming better and better at everything and Yazoo wasn't sure even Loz could defeat him anymore. The only hope he had was that Kadaj could never truly hurt him, needing him too much. He watched the baby and felt him pull once, twice on that lock of hair, just hard enough to earn a soft gasp.

"Aren't you glad I'm back?" Kadaj asked, his voice dangerous. He let the strands flutter from his fingers and stroked Yazoo's cheek instead, shifting closer to stand staring down at his older brother.

Yazoo leaned into the touch, covering the baby's hand with his own, sudden relief flooding him. Surely Kadaj could feel it through their connection? If Yazoo was capable of it he would have wept in that moment, he was so glad to have his little tyrant back.

The baby's slender fingers slid under to grip Yazoo's chin and force his head up.

"This is mine," the boy murmured, leaning down to press his forehead to his brother's, his body swaying softly in a slow, serpentine way. "You're both mine and I don't share…"

"What did you do, Kadaj?" Yazoo whispered, feeling the baby's hot breath on his lips. He smelled blood there, too, and the scent of meat. Whatever the baby had done, he had lost himself in it—Yazoo could remember only one other time when he'd seen the baby so far gone. It still gave Loz nightmares, that image of tiny, child-Kadaj ripping at the Handler's carcass with his perfect little teeth, feral and full of rage…"Kadaj…"

"Mmm?" the baby inquired, intent on what he was doing, sliding smoothly into Yazoo's lap, his slim legs folding around his brother's hips.

"You stink of blood, _koishii_," Yazoo said, letting Kadaj run his gloved fingers through his hair, settling his hands on the baby's slim hips to hold him steady. It was only what Kadaj expected, only the absolute trust he had in his brothers—_when I fall, you will catch me, you will keep me safe so that I don't even need to _try…

"Yeah," Kadaj agreed, absorbed in his play. He gripped Yazoo's shoulders suddenly and pressed his warm, wet mouth to his brother's.

Prepared to respond with his usual patience, Yazoo held the baby close and allowed Kadaj to kiss him. But the baby wasn't so easily contented as he had been, and his kisses scorched in their intensity. With a dismayed start, Yazoo realized that someone had taught the baby to kiss…and they'd done a very good job.

"This, too, is mine," Kadaj whispered, sucking at his lips, his tongue, devouring his mouth with a child's absolute absorption. He kissed Yazoo breathless, holding him close, body pressed tightly to Yazoo's bare chest. The baby squeezed his thighs tight and rocked in Yazoo's lap, a slow, steady roll of his hips that had Yazoo panting in seconds. The baby stripped off his gloves and raked sharp fingernails down Yazoo's sides, hissing softly, "This is mine, mine alone!"

"Of course it is," Yazoo assured him, squeezing the baby hard against him to sandwich his swelling erection. He kissed the baby hard, earning a little purr of pleasure, not entirely sure how far Kadaj had gone or was willing to go.

The baby leaned back, hands working at the buckles which held the _souba_ to his back, growling a little in frustration. Yazoo helped him, letting the sword swing gently to the floor before divesting the baby of his leather coat. It slapped the floor wetly, saturated in the stench of blood.

"Get these off me!" the baby snarled, rolling from his lap to his bed and shoving his booted feet at Yazoo while he hastily unlaced his pants.

Yazoo pulled the baby's boots off and helped him undress fully, amazed that the sight of his brother's slender body could be so very stimulating. He'd seen Kadaj nude for years and it had never affected him—but now there was a feline seductiveness to the baby that had not ever been present despite his grace and confidence. Kadaj had awoken the memories of Sephiroth—and Mother alone knew what kind of horrors the baby had received.

"Kiss me, Yazoo," the baby demanded, pulling his brother down on top of him with undeniable strength. They traded rough kisses, bruising kisses, and the baby whispered in his ear, "Treat me like that _bitch_ you had, brother. Give me what you gave to her—because it's _mine_, and I want it!"

It was pretty apparent that Kadaj, indeed, did want it—his slim, tight body, only just past thirteen, sang with tension and his hot little erection strained up against his flat belly.

Yazoo fell on him ready to devour him, sucking at his skin, gripping his flesh hard because he knew he could—they all liked that, pain to spice the pleasure, Sephiroth's kink reborn. The baby cried and squirmed beneath him, wriggling and hot, his little hands roaming frantically over Yazoo's body as if he couldn't decide where to touch him first.

Yazoo bit his throat, such soft and delicate skin, his hips crushing down on the baby's so that Kadaj yelped, arching up against him, rocking his hips to give them both sweet friction. Yazoo tasted his throat, his sturdy little chest, the pert little nipples that made Kadaj moan and writhe. Bit his way down the baby's sides, feeling muscle pull tight beneath his teeth while the baby's fingers tangled in his hair. Swirled his tongue in the baby's belly-button and raked his teeth down the flat plane of his lower belly to skim his tongue just past the baby's pulsing erection.

"Tsk!" the baby moaned, teeth clenched as he thrust his hips.

Yazoo neatly turned his head and bit the inside of Kadaj's thigh, dipping his tongue up the sensitive skin. Sucked the soft swell of the baby's balls into his mouth, laving them with his tongue. Again that presence of Sephiroth spread its wings inside him and he got a hot jolt of memory that transferred to the baby and made them both groan.

_Such a pretty boy with those huge, liquid blue eyes and that stoic, determined look on his china-doll's face…so young yet and so ready to please. Afraid but unwilling to admit it, splayed out on his back in the most vulnerable position one could be in, his coltish legs spread and his eyes holding barely concealed panic. And it was _this_ he drank down so greedily—fear and apprehension, the pleasure of taking something frightening and making it something _needed_, _craved_. His large hands on alabaster thighs and Cloud's high, sweet cries as he enveloped the boy in his hard, demanding mouth…_

"Oh _god_!" the baby choked, gasping for breath and clutching at Yazoo's hair as the man sucked him down—heated by the memory. The baby writhed in his hands, bucking his hips and moaning, eyes rolling up in his head. "Give it to me, Yazoo! _This is what I want! This is _mine!"

Yazoo sat up on his knees, letting the baby's cock slide from his mouth and slap against the baby's belly.

Kadaj moved instantly to engulf him in his perfect mouth, moving expertly to coat him with saliva, his slender hand lightly squeezing Yazoo's balls. He moved his wet mouth until Yazoo tugged at his hair, and then he rolled back down onto his back, his face flushed with heat and his eyes desperate and wild.

Dripping with the boy's saliva, Yazoo rolled up the baby's hips and gently worked himself into Kadaj's tight ass. The baby didn't make it easy, writhing and moaning like he was, his back arching and his cries piteous.

"Kadaj," Yazoo said, slightly breathless with the pleasure of it. "Be still, _koishii_, I'll hurt you…"

"Hurt me!" the baby hissed, clutching at his shoulders, slender legs pinning him tight and hips lifting insistently. "_Hurt me_!"

Both of them were driven by the shards of the spirit that had lodged within them, and it was the spirit of a very dark man indeed—they craved what he craved, wanted what he wanted, remembered his memories. Baby wanted pain and he would _have_ it.

Yazoo bent over him and forced himself ball-deep, swallowing the baby's sharp, mewling cries.

"This, _this_!" the baby panted, working up against him as he rocked, his body clamping down on Yazoo's hard enough to pry a guttural groan from his brother's lips. Jade eyes rolled up in pleasure, the baby's cock pulsing against Yazoo's stomach. "Harder! You are _mine_, brother, and I want _all_ of you!"

Yazoo gripped him hard and angled his hips up, jarring his brother's slender body, searching for something Sephiroth's memories told him would bring his brother a breathless pleasure.

_The delicate and soft squeeze of flesh, hard hands tilting sinewy, narrow hips just _so_ and a sudden thrust that drew the boy's startled, amazed gasp. 'Sweet spot,' Sephiroth whispered in the tender shell of the boy's ear, and sank his sharp teeth into his lobe while Cloud clung desperately to him, his young body arching hard to feel it all…_

He found it, Kadaj bowing beneath him, back arched off of the bed and wide eyes wild. The baby's body squeezed his so hard he almost came, holding off by force of will.

"Do I feel good, brother?" Kadaj demanded, his voice a harsh whisper. His lithe body moved with increasing urgency, his pulse thrumming. He gasped, the pleasure so intense he could hardly focus. "_Answer me, Yazoo_!"

"You feel so good, Kadaj," Yazoo said, meaning it, lying flat on top of his little brother and shoving into him, his thrusts hard and fast. Kadaj's body was hot and tight around him, wet from saliva and Yazoo's own dribbling precum. He swallowed the baby's moans with his kisses, sliding his corded arms under the boy's shoulders to hold him close. Kadaj's strong little arms slid around his neck, his fingers digging into Yazoo's hair and tangling there.

"Do I feel…nngh…_ah_…Do I feel better than _her_?" the baby asked, locking eyes with his brother, urging him to thrust harder, faster, give him _more_.

"You feel better than anything, _koishii_," Yazoo panted.

"Do you love me, Yazoo?"

"_Yes_!" he whispered fiercely, passionately.

"Do you love me best?" the boy persisted.

"I love you best, Kadaj," Yazoo moaned, and kissed the boy deeply. "I need you more than I've ever needed anything in my life."

Kadaj wailed softly beneath him, coming instantly from Yazoo's impassioned words, his body going rigid in an orgasm that tightened every muscle convulsively, his cock pulsing ropes of cum up between them.

"Kadaj!" Yazoo moaned, peaking with the baby, slamming into the tight warmth of the baby's rigid, trembling body. His teeth clenched hard as he came inside the baby, pulsing against him as he drained himself deep. He pressed as hard as he could into Kadaj, winning a small, soft sound from his brother. The baby went liquid and boneless around him, purring contentedly as Yazoo slumped on top of him.

"Kadaj?"

"Mmm?" the baby asked, idly stroking Yazoo's hair.

"You demand proof that we love you, over and over," Yazoo softly said, breathing against the baby's neck, getting that scent and the more disquieting scent of blood. "We never hesitated to reassure you…but Kadaj…do you love us?"

The baby's laugh was low and purring, enigmatic, but he only mused, "Does it matter?"


	7. Chapter 7

Yazoo woke the next morning when the baby stirred, Loz still snoring in his bed and oblivious. Kadaj easily slid out from under his brother and stalked to the bathroom. When he moved it was difficult for Yazoo not to stare at his hip-swinging gait—for all that Kadaj channeled Sephiroth, the older man's swagger translated to a seductive sway in Kadaj's young body.

The baby gave him a narrow look over one shoulder and smirked before closing the bathroom door.

Yazoo was out of bed the instant he heard the shower start, hastily jerking on his clothing, strapping the Velvet Nightmare on even as he made his way to his bike.

He rode straight to the bar, cutting around to the back when he saw the people milling around the front, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He parked in the back and slipped inside through an unlatched window. The people sent to investigate had their hands full keeping the spectators out, they didn't pay any attention to the room behind them.

The place stank of blood, the buzz of flies loud in Yazoo's ears—or maybe it was the mad thunder of his heart slamming away in panic. The puddle of human tissue he stepped in was fresh, a barely congealed scum on the floor. So…the baby had started in privacy and moved the party downstairs later, so as not to bring his little rampage to an early end.

Yazoo nudged the remains idly with the toe of his boot, shocked yet again by the baby's inventiveness. He made his way silently up the stairs, one ear trained on the voices below. But that attention slipped when he opened the first door and found only wanton destruction. It was room after room of carnage, the baby annihilating the people he'd seduced to teach him what he'd so desperately wanted to know. Purpose served, the little tyrant had clearly felt no need to keep them alive.

And, finally, _her_ room.

Baby had vented his ire here—with a glance Yazoo saw it and reflexively closed his eyes, stomach rolling in unexpected nausea. He'd seen such tortures in the belly of the Shinra labs—indeed, had lived through such things—but he had become accustomed to the clean death he and his brothers delivered, and the baby had delighted in destroying her. He cracked his eyes, taking the sight in with small flickers of his eyes—the blood splashing up the walls, the body tied down so tightly to the bed that what was left of her flesh bulged over the thin leather straps. She was contorted and twisted, Kadaj having felt the nefed to rearrange her in another shape altogether. He'd sliced her to ribbons and flung the flesh around in glee. Yazoo had no doubt that she _had_ died screaming and writhing in her own guts. Kadaj would've seen to _that_. Indeed, spilling out of the red mess and gleaming bone of her were her torn and bloodied entrails, her womb torn out of her with vicious jealousy in mind. Kadaj had, for whatever obscene reasons of his own, carved her face cleanly off and draped it over where her pubis had been. The baby had destroyed her with utter, gleeful abandon, and Yazoo did not kid himself to think that Kadaj had done it quickly…

His eyes lit on the wall behind her and he saw one word written in her blood, the script graceful and cautious—Kadaj was as vain and single-minded with his calligraphy as he was with everything. _Mine_, it read, over and over down the walls. A flood of possession written in the life of one who had dared come between Kadaj and his brother.

The loss hit him suddenly, loss and _anger_ that even _this_ Kadaj would take, something that had less than nothing to do with him. Yazoo felt the baby's possessiveness like a smothering blanket, claiming _everything_.

He crouched on the floor with his fists pressed tightly to his mouth in sudden rage he dared not let leak through. He wasn't sure how long he crouched there, rocking, only realized that Loz was suddenly before him, picking him up to cradle him in strong arms.

"Ugh, what a mess," Loz rumbled, glancing around the room in disgust. He shifted Yazoo up against his chest and carried him downstairs without pausing to be sure it was clear.

Yazoo shuddered, swallowing his reactions back, reeling that sudden resentment back in behind the wall where it belonged—own nothing, have nothing, _feel_ nothing…

"Kadaj sent me," Loz said, concerned, plopping Yazoo down on the seat of his bike and roughly stroking his hair. His jade eyes narrowed a bit and he added cryptically, "He told me where you'd be—but I couldn't feel you, Yazoo…"

Yazoo blanked his face into a mask, smooth and slightly bored, revealing nothing. Kadaj had come to him with the blood of his lovers—and Yazoo's own lover—on his hands, had demanded proof of love, had allowed Yazoo to find this awful temple of destruction, this horrific shrine to Kadaj's jealousy. Yazoo would never give the baby the satisfaction of seeing how much he'd been wounded by this. For Kadaj, this was just another game. The baby had forced himself to grow up, but he was just a baby still, and Yazoo would not allow himself to be upended by a child.

"Yazoo," Loz said, tears forming in his eyes, hurting for his brother.

"Hush, Loz," Yazoo soothed, his voice smooth and toneless, his eyes distant. "It's nothing…it's nothing…"

"_Koishii_ did not _mean_ to hurt you—"

"He did," Yazoo softly said, and looked up at his brother, his face full of the calm, reserved acceptance of a saint. "He meant to hurt me."

"He's just a baby," Loz sobbed, crushed by his brother's words and bewildered by Kadaj's actions. "He doesn't understand."

"He understands now, Loz," Yazoo whispered, thinking of all those bodies, the men and women who had taught his little Kadaj to kiss and paid for it with their lives.

Loz touched his cheek, frightened by the emptiness he saw in his brother's face, his lower lip trembling a little in sympathy.

"Let's go back," Yazoo sighed, shifting to straddle his bike.

"Yazoo…" Loz said, utterly lost.

"It's alright, Loz," Yazoo said, pressing a reassuring kiss to the hand on his face. "Let's go."

Loz gave a short nod and unhappily mounted his bike, following Yazoo back to the inn.

The baby was outside when they returned, stuffing the last of their things into the compartments of his bike. His feline eyes flicked over his returning brothers and he smirked, pleased.

"Where've you been, Yazoo?" he teased, a smile playing on his girlish lips. He waltzed over to his brother, all of his newly discovered seduction skills showing in his movements.

Yazoo closed himself up tight, shutting out the baby who had always had such unhindered, abandoned access to his heart and soul.

"What's wrong?" Kadaj laughed, gazing at his brother from the tops of his eyes, his head tilted down. Through that smug assurance Yazoo could see the uncertainty in Kadaj's jade eyes, could see the monster that had driven his baby to obliterate what he considered a rival for Yazoo's affection. An ego as monstrous as Sephiroth's had been.

'_He's just a baby_,' Yazoo reminded himself, trying desperately to believe it. But he could not complete the thought as he always had before. Kadaj had baptized himself in blood and sex—that loss of innocence could only be regretted, but never restored.

He shuttered his eyes, maintaining an appearance of boredom, aloof as Kadaj searched his face with the faintest glimmers of alarm in his feline eyes.

"What are you thinking?" the baby demanded, staring him in the eyes, so close Yazoo could feel his hot breath on his lips.

"Why should I tell you?" Yazoo mildly asked, cocking his head a little. "They're _my_ thoughts. Am I allowed nothing of my own?"

"Just _me_," Kadaj hissed. "_Only me_!"

Yazoo lifted one silver eyebrow, gracing Kadaj with a skeptical look.

"Why do you think I killed them, brother?" Kadaj asked, and was suddenly flush against him, kissing him hard. Yazoo kissed him from reflex, tongue teasing the baby's until the other pulled back with a low, frustrated moan. His jade eyes were shadowed with madness and a desperate _need_ for Yazoo to understand. In a throaty whisper he confessed, "Because you shouldn't have to share either…"

Yazoo softened, tenderly stroking the baby's face while Kadaj trembled, so fragile in his embrace.

"Do you love me still?" the baby asked, his voice wavering.

'_He's just a baby_,' Yazoo thought, looking at his downcast little face.

"Of course I love you, _koishii_," he sighed, hugging Kadaj. "I love you best of all."

Kadaj clung tightly to him for a moment and then pulled away, hitting Loz up for a hug on his way to his bike. He mounted and paused there, rummaging in his pack for a second before pulling forth a cut-glass bottle full of some sluggish oil. The baby dabbed it on his pulse-points, a scent that wafted back to his older brothers.

"You smell good, _koishii_," Loz complimented, pleased that all was well between them again, beaming with his happiness.

Kadaj looked at Yazoo over one slim shoulder, his smile impish and cruel as a child's will be.

"It's a pleasant scent, isn't it, Yazoo?" he inquired, smirking, seeking to wound.

Yazoo revealed nothing as his lover's perfume drifted from the warmth of the baby's body. He gave Kadaj a sphinx-like smile, eyes distant and bored, and murmured, "Yes, Kadaj, very pleasant indeed."

They rode away from that town, Yazoo riding in the wake of that spicy-sweet scent, his eyes focused on the baby's slim body, the taste of Kadaj's sweet lips and tongue in his mouth.

And Yazoo finally understood.


End file.
